Political Events The 20th Century 1920–1930 1940–1950 1960–1970 1980–1990 MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES 4 Life in America Since 1945 ONE AMERICAN’S STORY When World War II ended, Americans were eager to return to normal life. Newlyweds and young families were looking for a way out of crowded city apartments. Builder William J. Levitt had the answer. He built cheap houses using assembly-line methods. On New York’s Long Island, Levitt built more than 17,000 homes in Levittown. It was America’s first suburban housing development. Levitt liked to brag that his home building was helping to win the war against Communism. “No man who owns his own house and lot,” he said, “can be a Communist. He has too much to do.” As you will read, in the 1950s a home in the suburbs became a part of the American dream. Economic Boom and Baby Boom After World War II, the U.S. economy boomed.The GI Bill offered return- ing soldiers schooling and job training. The Veterans Administration pro- vided low-interest mortgages to home buyers. Rising demand for homes made possible the rapid growth of the suburbs. Other home builders were soon copying the building methods pioneered by Levitt. Car sales soared, too. Suburban families needed cars. They drove to work, to shopping cen- ters, to movie theaters, and to restaurants. During the late 1940s and the 1950s, the population grew rapidly. Americans were having more children, a trend known as the bab y boom . Many people moved from the cities to the suburbs. They also moved from the Northeast to the sunbelt—the states of the South and the Southwest. As Americans earned more, they spent more. Television appeared in almost every home. Americans eagerly bought the cars, electrical appli- ances, and other goods advertised on television and in magazines. 722 CHAPTER 25 EPILOGUE Levittown, New York Since World War II, civil rights, economic growth, and social change have dominated American life. Prosperity, equality, and rapid change will remain important issues in the 21st century. baby boom Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Great Society counterculture Taking Notes Use your chart to take notes about events in America after World War II. CALIFORNIA STANDARDS REP4 Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusions from them. HI6 Students interpret basic indica- tors of economic performance and conduct cost-benefit analyses of economic and political issues.
Transcript
Political EventsThe 20th Century
1920–1930
1940–1950
1960–1970
1980–1990
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES
44
Life in America Since 1945
ONE AMERICAN’S STORYWhen World War II ended, Americans
were eager to return to normal life.
Newlyweds and young families were
looking for a way out of crowded city
apartments. Builder William J. Levitt had
the answer. He built cheap houses using
assembly-line methods. On New York’s
Long Island, Levitt built more than 17,000
homes in Levittown. It was America’s first
suburban housing development. Levitt
liked to brag that his home building was
helping to win the war against Communism. “No man who owns his own
house and lot,” he said, “can be a Communist. He has too much to do.” As
you will read, in the 1950s a home in the suburbs became a part of the
American dream.
Economic Boom and Baby BoomAfter World War II, the U.S. economy boomed.The GI Bill offered return-ing soldiers schooling and job training. The Veterans Administration pro-vided low-interest mortgages to home buyers. Rising demand for homesmade possible the rapid growth of the suburbs. Other home builders weresoon copying the building methods pioneered by Levitt. Car sales soared,too. Suburban families needed cars. They drove to work, to shopping cen-ters, to movie theaters, and to restaurants.
During the late 1940s and the 1950s, the population grew rapidly.Americans were having more children, a trend known as the baby boom.Many people moved from the cities to the suburbs. They also moved fromthe Northeast to the sunbelt—the states of the South and the Southwest.
As Americans earned more, they spent more. Television appeared inalmost every home. Americans eagerly bought the cars, electrical appli-ances, and other goods advertised on television and in magazines.
722 CHAPTER 25 EPILOGUE
Levittown, New York
Since World War II, civil rights,
economic growth, and social change
have dominated American life.
Prosperity, equality, and rapid
change will remain important issues
in the 21st century.
baby boom
Dr. Martin LutherKing, Jr.
Great Society
counterculture
Taking Notes
Use your chart totake notes about events in Americaafter World War II.
CALIFORNIA STANDARDS
REP4 Students assess the credibilityof primary and secondary sourcesand draw sound conclusions fromthem.
HI6 Students interpret basic indica-tors of economic performance andconduct cost-benefit analyses ofeconomic and political issues.
Not all Americans shared in the new prosperity,however. In the 1950s, African Americans and otherminorities continued to face discrimination, as didworking women. In rural areas and inner cities, manypeople struggled to survive.
The Civil Rights MovementIn the 1950s, reformers began to win legal victories toend segregation in the South. In 1954, in Brown v.Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme Court ruledthat segregated public schools were illegal. Two yearslater, after a black-led boycott of the Montgomery,Alabama, bus system, the Court ruled that segregatedpublic transportation was against the law.
By the early 1960s, a young minister named Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr., led a strong civil rightsmovement. Despite attacks by whites, the movementfor equal rights remained largely nonviolent. At the1963 March on Washington, King inspired more than200,000 supporters with his words.
A VOICE FROM THE PAST
I have a dream that my four little children will one daylive in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.
Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream,” August 28, 1963
In 1964, President Johnson pushed a Civil RightsAct through Congress. It banned discrimination inemployment and voter registration. It also banned dis-crimination in public places such as restaurants, motels,and gas stations. Four years later, the Fair Housing Actoutlawed discrimination in housing. Many of thesechanges were inspired by the leadership of Dr. King.King’s assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, stunned the nation.
Laws now guarantee African Americans and other minority groupsequal treatment. With a growing number of African Americans elected tolocal, state, and federal offices, they have a greater voice in government.
The Great SocietyIn 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson convinced Congress to fund hisWar on Poverty. This effort created many government and private agen-cies to fight poverty. Some agencies provided job training. Others sentvolunteers to teach in poor rural communities and rundown urbanneighborhoods. Some programs funded part-time jobs for needy collegestudents. Others offered preschool classes to give poor children a head
The United States Since 1919 723
A. RecognizingEffects Whatgoals did Dr.Martin LutherKing, Jr., help toachieve in civilrights?A. Answer Kingled civil rightsmovement; spokeat March onWashington;helped inspireCivil Rights Actsof the 1960s.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
1929–1968
Dr. King (shown below) becameleader of the Montgomery busboycott. Fresh out of school, hehad been in Montgomery abouta year. But his courage andeloquence made him the perfectperson to lead the movement.
King learned about nonvio-lence by studying religious writersand thinkers. He came to believethat only love could convert peo-ple to the side of justice. Hedescribed the power of nonvio-lent resisters: “We will soon wearyou down by our capacity to suf-fer. So in winning . . . freedom . . .you will be changed also.”
How might King’s beliefshave supported his leadershipof a nonviolent protest?
HISTORIC DECISIONS
OF THE SUPREME COURT
For more
information on
Brown v. Board
of Education of
Topeka, see pp.
752–753.
start on learning. In 1965, Johnson got Congress to set aside millions forhealth care for poor, elderly, and disabled people. These health-care pro-grams were called Medicare and Medicaid.
Reducing poverty, extending civil rights, and expanding medical carewere all parts of Johnson’s plan for a better America. He called it theGreat Society. Like FDR’s New Deal, the Great Society reflectedJohnson’s belief that government can improve people’s lives. Johnson’ssocial programs were costly. However, they attempted to reduce thepoverty rate during the 1960s. As the U.S. role in the Vietnam War grew,though, fewer dollars were directed to Great Society programs.
Rights for AllIn the 1960s, minorities and women struggled for equal rights. NativeAmericans turned to the courts to fight for their land rights. They heldprotests highlighting the federal government’s failure to honor treaties.One of the most outspoken Native American groups was the AmericanIndian Movement (AIM).
In the early 1960s, César Chávez began organizing poorly paid Mexican-American farm workers in California. He led a five-year-long strike bygrape pickers. Then Chávez formed the nation’s first successful union of
farm workers. It later became the United Farm Workers of America.Chávez’s success inspired other Mexican Americans to work for change.In 1969–1970, they formed La Raza Unida—“the united people.” Thisgroup worked to improve the lives of Mexican Americans and others.
In 1963, Betty Friedan wrote a best-sellingbook called The Feminine Mystique. This bookled many women to rethink their roles. In 1966,Friedan and other activists founded theNational Organization for Women (NOW).NOW and other women’s groups such asWorking Women and The AmericanAssociation of University Women have workedto change laws that discriminate againstwomen. They have helped to reform propertyrights and hiring. They continue working forequal pay and fair treatment in the workplace.
Youth Protests and the CountercultureNo controversy was more heated than that over the Vietnam War.Opponents of the war argued that it was a civil war between Communistsand non-Communists for control of Vietnam.They stated that the UnitedStates had no right to interfere. The war’s supporters considered theseopponents to be traitors who were undermining the war effort. Antiwarprotests brought millions of Americans into the streets. Shouting matchesand flag burnings followed. Some protests turned violent. Antiwar activistsclashed with supporters of the war. At Ohio’s Kent State University in1970, National Guardsmen fired their weapons and killed four students.
724 CHAPTER 25 EPILOGUE
B. Answer NativeAmericans,MexicanAmericans, and women allstruggled forequal rights—Native Americansfor land rights,MexicanAmericans forbetter pay andworking condi-tions, and womenfor equal treat-ment in the workplace.
B. Comparingand ContrastingWhat was similarand differentabout the strug-gles of variousgroups for theirrights?
Vietnam widened the gap between younger and older Americans. Differences in beliefs and valuesbetween generations eventually gave rise to the counterculture. These were groups of people seekingnew ways of living. One of the central values for membersof the counterculture was a concern for the environment.Environmentalists sought to protect the environment byfighting pollution of the country’s natural resources.Some younger Americans had different values from thoseof the mainstream. Many critics spoke out against theway young people questioned American values. Despitesuch concerns, in 1971 the Twenty-Sixth Amendmentlowered the voting age to 18.
Reagan, Bush, andConservatismThroughout the 1960s and 1970s, Democratic presidentssuch as Jimmy Carter had favored a strong role for government in theeconomy. They favored regulation of big business, support for organizedlabor, and public spending on the poor.
Ronald Reagan, a former movie actor and governor of California, waselected president in 1980, defeating Jimmy Carter. Reagan, a conservativeRepublican, wanted to reduce the role of government in American life.He sharply cut taxes and slashed spending on social programs for thepoor. At the same time, he greatly increased military spending.
The tax cuts, coupled with heavy defense spending, caused the nationaldebt to skyrocket. The government was borrowing more money to pay forspending than it was taking in through taxes. As a result, the national debtdoubled in size from 1981 through 1986. Reagan pushed pro-businesseconomic policies. He abolished thousands of government regulations onbusiness. After a recession in 1982, the economy sharply improved.
Reagan’s successor, George Bush, shared his conservative outlook. In theearly 1990s, after his successful management of the Persian Gulf War,Bush’s popularity surged. However, when the country headed into a reces-sion, Bush’s approval ratings fell sharply. In 1992, Bush lost his reelectionbid to Democrat Bill Clinton, the governor of Arkansas.
The Clinton PresidencyDuring his first term, Bill Clinton focused on domestic issues. To reducethe deficit, he supported tax increases and spending cuts. To fight crime, hepushed gun-control laws through Congress.
In 1994, the Democrats lost control of Congress to the Republicans.The new Congress pushed for deeper cuts in taxes and social programsthan Clinton would support. A compromise led to deep cuts in somegovernment social programs but protected some spending for education,welfare, and health care programs for the needy. The nation’s strongeconomy helped Clinton win reelection in 1996.
Protesters marchin 1969 inopposition to thewar in Vietnam.
C. SummarizingWhat are someexamples of howReagan limitedthe role of gov-ernment in eco-nomic affairs?C. AnswerReagan slashedtaxes and socialspending, andabolished manygovernment regulations onbusiness.
The United States Since 1919 725
Clinton’s second term in office was marred by scandal. An investigationinto Clinton’s finances revealed that he had had an improper relationshipwith a White House intern. And he allegedly had lied about it under oath.The charges led to his impeachment in 1998. The Senate opened its trialof President Clinton in January 1999. Nearly a month later, the Senateacquitted him and Clinton remained in office.
The Bush PresidencyIn 2000, the nation held a presidential election to choose Clinton’s suc-cessor. The Democrats nominated Vice-President Al Gore as their can-didate. The Republicans chose Texas governor George W. Bush, the sonof the former president.
The 2000 election was one of the closest in U.S. history. By the morn-ing after Election Day, Gore held a narrow lead in the popular vote.However, he did not have enough electoral votes to claim the presidency.Bush led in Florida by a few hundred votes, which promised to give himenough electoral votes to win the election. For five weeks, the two cam-paigns fought legal battles over recounts of the Florida ballots. Finally,on December 12, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 to stop therecounts, ensuring that Bush would win the presidency.
The election controversy widened the country’s political divide. Criticswondered how Bush could govern effectively without winning the popularvote. Bush began his term working on domestic policies, such as educationalreform. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he focused onfighting terrorism at home and overseas. (See the Special Report beginningon page 732.)
Political differences in California led to a historic recallelection in 2003. A number of economic problems in 2000and 2001, including a statewide electricity crisis, led manyCalifornians to lose confidence in Democratic governor GrayDavis. Despite faltering support, Davis won reelection in2002 by a slim margin. Shortly thereafter, Davis opponentsbegan petitioning for a recall vote under state law, eventuallygathering more than 1.3 million signatures. On October 7,2003, more than 55 percent of voters chose to recall Davis.Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected the new governor,receiving over 48 percent of the vote against 134 candidates.
While Bush’s antiterrorism policies gained initial support,many Americans began to question his handling of the inva-
sion of Iraq. In 2004, Massachusetts senator John Kerry challengedBush. After both sides waged one of the most expensive campaigns inhistory, Bush was able to win a majority of the popular vote. However,once again the electoral vote came down to one state. In Ohio, Bushheld a lead of more than 130,000 votes, which would give him the state’s20 electoral votes and the presidency. After deciding that the uncountedabsentee and paper ballots would not be enough to take the lead, Kerryconceded the race to Bush the day after the election.
726 CHAPTER 25 EPILOGUE
ArnoldSchwarzeneggerbecameCalifornia’sgovernor afterwinning the 2003recall election.
D. ContrastingWhat effect didthe economyhave on the elec-tions of 1992 and 1996?D. Answer Theweak economy of1992 helped todefeat Bush; thestrong economyof 1996 helped toreelect Clinton.
Immigrants and theNew MillenniumFrom 1981 to 1996, nearly 13.5 mil-lion legal immigrants came to theUnited States. These new immi-grants increased U.S. diversity. Mostof the immigrants who arrived inAmerica during earlier periods hadcome from Europe. Nearly 85 per-cent of the most recent arrivals camefrom Latin America or Asia. TheCensus Bureau predicts that by2020 the U.S. Hispanic populationwill increase from 12.5 percent to 17percent. At the same time, the Asianpopulation is expected to climb from3.6 percent to nearly 6 percent.
While immigrants bring theirculture to America, they also haveembraced many American tradi-tions. Most wear Americanclothes, adopt American customs,and learn English. Furthermore,they share with other Americans abelief in democracy and freedom.
Citizens of all races and back-grounds will play a vital role inshaping America. So will today’s students. You have a part to play inhelping the United States embrace people from every culture and land.You are the generation that will create the America of the future.
The United States Since 1919 727
2. Using GraphicsUse the chart to examine theaims of groups that protestedin the 1960s. (HI1)
3. Main Ideasa. How did the civil rightsmovement of the 1960slessen discrimination againstAfrican Americans? (HI2)
b. What were the goals ofPresident Johnson’s GreatSociety programs? (HI3)
c. How did Reagan attemptto reduce the role of govern-ment in American life? (HI1)
THINK ABOUT• music and the arts• politics• religion• values
1. Terms & NamesExplain the
significance of:• baby boom• Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.• Great Society• counterculture
Section Assessment
ACTIVITY OPTIONS
LANGUAGE ARTSMATH
Find out about voters’ attitudes toward politicians. Create a survey, conduct a poll, and either write a report or display your results in a graph. (REP3)
SKILLBUILDER Interpreting Charts1. From which European countries were there still substantial
numbers of immigrants in the 1980s and 1990s?2. From what regions of the world do most recent
immigrants come?
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census
* Numbers rounded to nearest 10,000.
˚ China includes Taiwan.† The Soviet Union broke apart in 1991. This figure includes
the former Soviet republics.
SkillbuilderAnswers1. the countriesthat make up theformer SovietUnion2. North America(Mexico); CentralAmerica (ElSalvador); Asia(Philippines,Vietnam, China,India, Korea);Caribbean(DominicanRepublic, Jamaica)
